A small fleet of 10 rechargeable e-carts now takes visitors through the rose-coloured Siq, or gorge, leading to the famed capital of the Nabateans, which dates back to the first-century BC.

“There is no pollution or smoke” and the change has “reduced the cases of animal mistreatment”, said Suleiman Farajat, head of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority.

The golf buggy-style vehicles have less impact because “sometimes the carriage wheels hit the sides of the Siq … the horse dung caused a bad smell in the place, and cleaning it was not easy.

“It was an unpleasant experience for the tourists, the horses and us,” said Farajat.

Animal rights group Peta, which had criticised the use of the often scrawny and overworked draft animals, has described the project as a “major first step to protect working animals”.

The group hailed the “game-changing vehicles” and added that it hopes to work with officials “towards the day when there will be only animal-free transportation at Petra”.

For now, the Petra authority says it will keep some of the horses “to preserve the character of the place, as it is a world heritage site”.

‘Amazing place’

The change has also been hailed for another reason: helping to make the Unesco World Heritage Site far more accessible to elderly and disabled visitors.

Austrian tourist Rudy, 43, who uses a wheelchair, said he had repeatedly postponed a visit because of the pandemic, and was now “very happy” to have made the trip.

“Disabled people and those who have difficulty walking for a long distance now have a chance to see this amazing place.”

An American tourist named Angie, 60, agreed. “It seems a little bit out of character to have these in a beautiful place like this,” she said. “But at our age, it was nice to come back in an electric cart.”

The move to replace 12 horse-drawn carriages with 10 e-carts was agreed by the horse owners’ association. Foreign tourists pay 25 dinars (RM145) and Jordanians 15 dinars for the round trip from the visitor centre to the archaeological site.

The association receives 75% of the income, while 25% goes to the authority.

The head of the association, Mohammad Amarat, said those operating the electric carts earn more than 300 Jordanian dinars a month.

One benefit is that the carts can carry five passengers, compared with just two in the horse-drawn carriages.

He prefers the new vehicles because previously, the horses “were tired, their income was less, and the journey time was longer”.